Novel test can detect any virus

Scientists have designed a test that can detect not only any known virus type and subtype but also virus outbreaks.

A research team led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis (WUSTL) condensed nearly 1 billion base pairs of viral DNA sequences to create a test that they call ViroCap.

“With this test, you don’t have to know what you’re looking for. It casts a broad net and can efficiently detect viruses that are present at very low levels. We think the test will be especially useful in situations where a diagnosis remains elusive after standard testing or in situations in which the cause of a disease outbreak is unknown,” said research associate Professor Gregory Storch.

To develop the test, the researchers targeted unique stretches of DNA or RNA from every known group of viruses that infects vertebrates – including 2 million unique stretches of genetic material. The stretches of material were used as probes which can pluck out viruses from a sample and find a genetic match. The matched viral material was then analyzed by high-throughput genetic sequencing.

Read more: Novel test can detect any virus

New test can detect any virus that infects vertebrates

Source: labnews

Novel Blood Test Diagnoses Alzheimer's At Early Stage.

A blood test has been developed that may potentially facilitate detection of Alzheimer's disease at an early stage and it is based on an immuno-chemical analysis using an infrared sensor. 

A major problem of Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis is the fact that, by the time the first clinical symptoms appear, massive irreversible damage to the brain has already occurred and at that point, symptomatic treatment is the only available option.

Scientists at the Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany) and their colleagues analyzed the secondary structure of Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood plasma of 141 patients which was measured with an immuno-infrared-sensor. The sensor's surface is coated with highly specific antibodies which extract biomarkers for Alzheimer's from the blood or the CSF, taken from the lower part of the back. The infrared sensor analyses of the biomarkers showed pathological changes, which can take place more than 15 years before any clinical symptoms appear.

Read more: Novel Blood Test Diagnoses Alzheimer's At Early Stage.

Source: slideshare, labmedica